Part 1 - The Institute Libraries - Institute for Advanced Study

uinter quartexs duxing which the Professor worked with the physicists
of California Institute of Technology and the estronomers of Ht. Wilson
~bsenaror~.' The second was to consult Dr. David Eugene Snith. Roies-
sox Ereritus of Matkrztfcs at Columbia Unfversfty, to learn who were the
most eninent American 2nd foreign ~theimticians a£ appointable age.
Smith told him that while Leanerd Dickson of Chicago, then fifty-six
years old, wzs the only "genfus" in Anerica, Dr. George D. Birkhoff of
Rarvarci was "also- able." Sz13th hastened to mend thfs assessmnc six
months later, after he~ring Birkhoff lecture at the Sorbonne and consult-
ing with Eadarc~rd, who pronounced Birkhoff to be "nearest to a rathemati-
cal genius in the world.
n2
But even before this news, Flemer had visited Birkhoff, and
secured his ideas for organizing the School of bkthernatfcs. Dr. Birkhoff
wrote:
In the first' place, I would secure perrranently one or two
mthmaticizns of great and undisputed genius, These men
should be chosen with respect to the importance of the re-
searches which they have under way and only secondarily with
reference to their ability to work with other men. However,
it would be unfortunate if such a man was mt able to work
in conjunction with younger men and to have some interest in
them, These leaders are to be taken wherever they are to be
f ormd.
fn the secand place, the rainder of the staff would consist
mainly of younger men giving promise of unusual -lent, to be
taken only far a perfod of years. -Such men should be select-
ed absolutely without regard for what is ordinzrily called
persowlity, and tfie salary should be sufffciently high and
the duties so congenial that they could be obtzined for a
period of years without difficulty. It would, however, be a
normal expectation that they would go into the academic field
after that perfod.. .Ln exceptional cases where the man devel-
oped a first-class power he might be retained.
No importance whatever should,be attached to keeping a balanced
department of mathematics: that is, one in which the various